Some TOT phone booths to be equipped with defibrillator
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THE NATIONAL Institute for Emergency Medicine (NIEM) is collaborating with TOT to transform the state agency’s public telephone booths into life-saving tools for people with heart ailments.
The two signed a memorandum of understanding on the deal yesterday. The project was initiated and will be managed by private firm Bmet Center Co.
The project will see the installation of automated external defibrillator (AED) devices in TOT phone booths in 300 locations in Greater Bangkok within three years, of which 100 are targeted to be equipped this year.
The booths are in busy areas such as piers, shopping centres and other public areas.
The phone booths will contain information to help people operate the AEDs. They will also be equipped with a communication system |linked to the NIEM to tell the institute to send emergency staff to |help people suffering a cardiac problem.
The cost of the AEDs will be covered by donations.
Bmet proposed the project to the NIEM and TOT and aims to get more companies to join the project. The cost of an AED and its installation in each location is Bt300,000.
Jumpon Thanasopon, TOT’s senior executive vice president for fixed-line and broadband business, said the state telecom agency would earn revenue of about Bt1,350 per booth from rental and providing Wi-Fi service.
TOT is seeking new revenue sources, and this is part of that process.
TOT has 120,000 public telephone booths nationwide, which generate annual revenue of about Bt288 million, with average revenue per use at Bt200 a month.
Dranuchar Sethathien, secretary-general of the NIEM, said each AED-equipped phone booth would have an alarm system to prevent theft of the equipment.
